Seagulls defy conditions in Rocky

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The effort by the Tweed Heads Seagulls to win, after a five-hour horror flight to Rockhampton and having the match postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon because of weather, was one of their better performances of the season and lifted them two spots on the competition ladder.

“When we got to Rockhampton we knew the conditions were going to be trying, it had rained all day Saturday and was still raining when we ran out on to the field,” Seagulls coach Aaron Zimmerle said. The team had to circle Rockhampton, return to Brisbane and stay on the plane for over an hour, before heading back to Rockhampton.

The Seagulls trailed 16-6 at half-time, but were able to keep the Capras scoreless in the second half and scored two tries to secure the two points.

“The top coaches will always say the first priority is to get your defence in order and everything else will come from there. This was exactly what we focused on today and what we will continue to focus on,” Zimmerle said after the match.

“In these sludge fest and muddy conditions it comes down to your halves. Do they have the ability to capitalise on the mistakes of the other team, fortunately ours did.

“Sam Irwin was vicious in his defence and also his attack. Sam kicked on the last tackle which our halfback Michael Burgess scored off and we got our first 6 points of the game.”

“Michael Burgess was perfect with the boot and his perfect goal kicking was what the game was decided on and based on the conditions he was kicking in; he did a great job.

“We have a young side and if we can string a few wins together at the end of the season we can be in a good position for the finals or it will be great for our team moving forward for next year.”

Bustling Burleigh Bears prop Luke Page scored a try with three minutes to spare to give his side a Blackhawks 26-20 victory over the Blackhawks in Townsville.

With the scores tied at 20-20 and with just three minutes left, the workhorse prop powered his way over the line to give the Bears their sixth win on the trot and their first win over the Blackhawks.

It was a good return to form from the Bears who faded badly in the last quarter of last week’s narrow win over Norths. Coach Jim Lenihan said the improved mental application was the most pleasing aspect of the win.

“After last week’s effort where we let ourselves down a little bit we certainly played more to our potential, for sure,” he said.

“Before the game we spoke about it needing to be an 80-minute performance. The outcome probably wasn’t all that important, but the way that we held ourselves and played to the final whistle was.

“It’s a really good result and it puts us in a good position but still, with a tough run home, we’ve just got to take every week as it comes.”

The win highlights the huge turnaround in fortunes at the club in 2016.

The last time Burleigh travelled to Townsville they were thrashed 78-6 and their 2015 season never recovered.

Twelve months later and not only have they beaten the Blackhawks on their home turf, they’ve won six in a row and lead the competition by three points.

“It was a bit of a running joke this week that if we got away with less than 70 we had improved,” Lenihan said.

“It’s a credit to everyone at the club. We’ve certainly made some improvements and we’re playing a lot better but it’s still a long way to go and it’s up to us to go on with it and put ourselves in the best position possible when it comes to the end of the year.”

Conditions weren’t ideal which led to a battle through the middle.

Townsville got the better of the Bears early as they jumped to a 10-0 lead thanks to tries to Delouise Hoeter and Lorenzo Maafu.

The Bears stayed in touch, however, and a crucial try to Paterika Vaivai in the 36th minute gave them a sniff.

A Waka Wanahi try on the stroke of halftime saw them take an unlikely two-point lead into the break.

Burleigh’s momentum continued shortly after halftime as dummy-half Pat Politoni scored to take the lead out to a handy 18-10.

Townsville were not about to roll over, however, as a double to Moses Pangai saw them regain the lead with 15 minutes remaining.

A penalty goal from Jamal Fogarty in the 69th minute saw the Bears draw level once again, before Luke Page crossed for the match-winner three minutes from time.

Burleigh are now three points clear of second placed Redcliffe and, with another bye in hand, so are in an excellent position as the finals approach.